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Ontario needs better oversight of propane regulator: Editorial

Ontario needs better oversight of propane regulator after conviction of Sunrise Propane and two managers for environmental and safety breaches.

Firefighters work at the scene of a propane explosion at Sunrise Propane in Toronto early Sunday Aug. 10, 2008. (ANGELA DELUCE / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Sat., June 29, 2013

It was a terrible accident that should never have happened and now, nearly five years after fireballs exploded over Downsview, Sunrise Propane is finally facing justice.

In the aftermath of the accident, there were calls for the province to take on the role of the Technical Standards and Safety Authority, the private regulator that failed miserably in its oversight of Sunrise Propane. Former premier Dalton McGuinty’s government didn’t do that and left it up to the industry to regulate itself. That was a calculated risk. The TSSA had better be up to the job.

It certainly wasn’t in the years leading up to the 2008 explosion that sent fireballs into the sky, killing a Sunrise worker and raining debris and asbestos onto frightened, injured residents below.

On Thursday, Justice Leslie Chapin convicted the company of nine environmental and worker safety regulations and two managers of failing to take proper safety measures. The explosion occurred during an illegal truck-to-truck propane transfer. Chapin also concluded that the TSSA’s inspector did not enforce an order instructing Sunrise to stop earlier illegal transfers of propane. At the time of the accident, the TSSA did not have a timely list of the propane sites it was supposed to be inspecting. That’s not good oversight.

The explosion led to the evacuation of an entire neighbourhood and caused millions of dollars in damages. As the Star reported last week, Janna Zonta recalled how she was awakened when her house started shaking. “Fire was everywhere,” she said. “It looked like an atomic bomb.” For many, those images will never disappear.

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The fact that the company and two managers face hefty fines will bring some small solace to victims of the blast. Indeed, the residents who launched a class action lawsuit will be pleased that the judge concluded that the industry’s self-regulating body knew of Sunrise’s safety problems and failed to fix them.

While that may bode well for a future legal settlement, it won’t deal with the worrisome reality that the TSSA still has oversight powers for propane companies, some of which are located near residential neighbourhoods. Based on previous history, that’s cause for concern.

In the aftermath of the Sunrise Propane explosion, Premier Kathleen Wynne would be wise to consider the perils of offloading government oversight of dangerous substances onto private organizations.

As Toronto City Councillor Maria Augimeri says, “It’s another disaster waiting to happen.” Sadly, she may well be right. Since the explosion Augimeri has pushed the Liberal government to take control of the TSSA, to no avail. (It regulates everything from amusement park rides to propane and upholstered furniture.)

Even though the government said it bolstered accountability and transparency within the TSSA, Wynne should consider taking a hard look at the way the authority monitors and regulates dangerous substances. It’s a product of the Mike Harris era, when regulatory bodies were placed at arms length from government, on the assumption that the private sector could ensure public safety for less money than the bureaucracy. The Walkerton tainted water tragedy was another example of that type of thinking.

If there were to be a similar accident, now that the public is aware of the failures that led to the Sunrise explosion, the government would face a ruinous public firestorm. Explosions that lead to death, terrible injuries and ruined homes are much too high a price to be paid for offloading the oversight of dangerous materials.

Indeed, the government could consider removing responsibility for fuel safety from the TSSA and returning it to the government’s care. To that end, Augimeri sent a letter to Queen’s Park last week, asking Wynne to take on the oversight.

Last week’s convictions will give her persuasive reasons to consider it.

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